The spending of public funds without adhering to prescribed legislation continues to rise, with irregular expenditure climbing from R27-billion last year to more than R62-billion in March this year.
This was revealed by auditor-general Kimi Makwetu’s consolidated report on audit outcomes of all national and provincial government departments for the 2013/2014 financial year, which he tabled in parliament yesterday.
The report shows that 72% (or 469) of government departments as a well as public entities were not complying with laws that govern the spending of taxpayers’ money such as the Public Finance Management Act.
Makwetu said it was concerning that a huge number (309) of these departments and entities were responsible for the staggering R62.7-billion irregular expenditure. He said 47% of the irregular expenditure (or R29-billion) stemmed from previous years but was only uncovered for the first time this year.
Makwetu said it was worrying that culprits for the reckless spending were provincial departments of health, education, roads and public works, which were at the coalface of service delivery.
He fingered Limpopo, KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng and Eastern Cape as serial offenders, with the four being responsible for irregular expenditure to the tune of more than R10-billion, with the embattled department of transport and Sanral accounting for over R3-billion…
South Africa Today – South Africa News
